Hi everyone, Michael here to take a look at the previewed rules for the Ravenwing, and how they may affect my Ravenwing army. For more reviews and analyses, check out the Tactics Corner.
This week, Warhammer Community previewed a number of new rules for the Ravenwing from the upcoming Dark Angels Codex. I have recently been writing about my hopes for an all-Ravenwing army in 9th edition. It seems that GW were listening to my prayers, as these new rules updates are a big boost to the army.
2nd Company
First up, the 2nd Company rule is a massive boost to running a Ravenwing army. I have previously written about the advantages and disadvantages of the army. A couple of issues were the loss of objective secured from the army, and the CP cost of fielding the force.
This new rule eliminates these issues. You now get more CP than you previously would for fielding an Outrider detachment, as you essentially gain the CP back from just taking an Outrider. Not only that, but your Bike Squads and Outriders gain the objective secured rule. This gives your highly-mobile bike units the ability to go out and grab objectives. You will still need to pick your battles, as you are likely to be outnumbered by your opponent’s obsec units, but with the firepower of the army, you should be able to whittle down the enemy forces over the course of the game to make your obsec bike squads more effective.
This army is going to excel at board control, moving quickly to get objectives and to different table regions for scoring secondaries.
Doctrines
The Doctrine bonuses seem to be undergoing modification with the Dark Angels, giving you different bonuses for Infantry and Ravenwing.
First off, getting an extra 3″ move on your Ravenwing units makes them some of the most mobile Marine units in the game. Your Bikers and Outriders will have movement 17″ in the first turn, plus a guaranteed 6″ if you advance. The ability to move almost 2 feet in one turn is a huge boost to the mobility of the army and allows you to get into position very quickly. This could be effective for deploying out of range of the enemy army, either firepower or first turn charges, then rapidly moving your forces into position if you don’t get the first turn.
In addition, this allows you to advance your unit without losing all your firepower. The ability to still advance and fire all weaponry at -1 to hit is a huge bonus. Coupled with the 4+ invulnerable Jink save on advancing, this is a big turn 1 boost for the Ravenwing.
I am hoping that Jink gets rolled out to all Ravenwing units in the codex, but at the moment, it provides some strong shooting defense for your key units, such as Talonmasters and Black Knights, while also allowing their firepower to have an impact on the game.
The ability to move faster and still fire to some effect will be great for Bikers with Meltaguns, or Attack Bikes and ATVs with Multi-meltas, allowing them to quickly close with the enemy army and get the Melta bonuses on the weapons.
Overall
The recent previews have made me more excited for fielding an all-Ravenwing army. The 2nd Company rule removes some of the main drawbacks to the force from the Index. I’m looking forward to what other rules the codex brings and the doctrine bonuses that apply to the army.
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